This invention relates, in general, to computing networks, and more particularly, to scheduling the flow of information through a network.
As technology advances, the complexity and number of devices that are connected to computing or communication networks increases. This in turn increases the amount of information that is shared between the devices via the network. To reduce the number of connections employed, it is desirable to design the network so that the devices may share many of the same interconnect wires. By reducing the number of wires, the reliability and efficiency of the network is improved and the overall cost of the network is reduced.
To allow multiple devices to share the same connections, networks may include a scheduler to schedule the flow of information across the network. Various protocol mechanisms may be used by the scheduler to determine which device in the network is allowed to use a connection. This determination may be based in whole or part on the priority each device is given by the network. Conventionally, a scheduler may use a round-robin system to allow each device to have its turn sending or receiving information across the network. However, the use of a round-robin approach may be difficult to implement and inefficient given the priorities of a particular set of devices.